Sell me on Star Wars D20

[Wehtam]

With a birthday that has just passed a few days ago, and a gift outstanding from a family member; I was thinking of using it to get the Star Wars D20 Revised Edition.

I would like to hear all things (good and bad) about this game.

I've run the box game that came out a few years ago and found it much easier to run than D&D 3.0 or 3.5.

Thanks.

 

[Piratecat]

I'll slide this over to the d20 forum, where the Star wars folks can be found.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

I love d20 Star Wars, it's no harder to run/play than d20 D&D.

Very streamlined, good for dramatics. The only flaws would be the
inheirant flaws of d20 (levels, set skills, etc).

Otherwise, I'd say go for it, I love playing Star Wars.

Shane
aka
Bonda Vantai
Duros Soldier (level 4)

 

[d4]

Very streamlined, good for dramatics. The only flaws would be the inheirant flaws of d20 (levels, set skills, etc).

i wouldn't consider those flaws.

i really like the Star Wars d20 system, better than D&D in fact.

the classes cover a wide range of SW archetypes and are fairly well balanced against each other (yes, including the Jedi!). the skills-n-feats Force system works well, giving Force users a wide range of cool abilities without making them dominate non-Force users.

Force Points can help mitigate bad luck and make for more dramatic action.

while the Vitality Points / Wound Points system can sometimes be more lethal than D&D's hit points, they are also used brilliantly IMO to show the stark difference between major characters and mooks. (the non-heroic NPC classes earn no Vitality Points, so your stormtroopers no matter their level still usually only have 10-12 "hit points." it allows the GM to throw hordes of 'em at the PCs without too much worry, since they'll all go down in a hit or two.) this can really help bring the cinematic feel of Star Wars to the table.

i've GMed both the old d6 version of SW and this new d20 version (unfortunately, i've never had the opportunity to play either!) and i much prefer d20.

 

[Salad Shooter]

But then theres the original Star Wars RPG...say hey for massive piles of d6's, that can be completely nulled with an unlucky roll on the wild die!

 

[humble minion]

I've been running a SW d20 game for about a year now, and I have to say that, on the whole, it works. Thanks to the lack of magic etc to complicate things it is quite a lot simpler than D&D, though it's probably quite a lot more complex than the boxed game (not that I've seen this one myself).

Like people have said, the VP/WP mechanic makes combat dangerous yet still gives heroes and major villains the advantages they deserve. The classes are well-balanced enough so that Jedi don't overshadow everyone else in the game, except (naturally!) in melee combat. The scoundrel, soldier, and noble in my group have saved the Jedi's butt many, many times...

There are problems with the system, but you probably won't run into them for a few levels at least, which will give you a bit of time to develop your own house rules. Examples include the Fear skill (which is enormously overpowered), the rate at which attack bonuses overwhelm defense scores as characters go up in level, a few wacky DCs for certain skills, starship combat (which my group finds a little flat and mechanical), the rate at which a group with multiple Force users can heal themselves far too fast for my taste, and so on.

It could have done with a little more playtesting, but on the whole, it's a lot of fun.

 

[d4]

Examples include the Fear skill (which is enormously overpowered)...

i really like the Fear skill. unlike a spell in D&D, there is no save against it. the player must make a conscious decision whether to allow it to affect him or not. (if it affects the character, he takes a penalty to all d20 rolls. if he resists it, he gains a Dark Side Point!)

it's a hard choice. but it's the player's own choice, not the result of a die roll. that can make for some great roleplaying.

the player has to think, "wow, i really can't afford to suffer that penalty in the middle of this combat! it could spell disaster for us... maybe i should just give in to the Dark Side a little... but what are the repercussions of that?"

my players know what they are. i told them at the beginning of the campaign, in no unequivocal terms, that a character who falls to the Dark Side becomes an NPC. so it's a really hard choice to make.

 

[Katowice]

If you want to play a Star Wars RPG, it's the only one on the market right now.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

i wouldn't consider those flaws.

To me it is a flaw, of sorts.

I left D&D for Call of Cthulhu and White Wolf, I just can't
get totally "into" the whole level thing nowadays.

I like non-level systems more...but d20 is easy and fun, for
all it means.

 

[humble minion]

i really like the Fear skill. unlike a spell in D&D, there is no save against it. the player must make a conscious decision whether to allow it to affect him or not. (if it affects the character, he takes a penalty to all d20 rolls. if he resists it, he gains a Dark Side Point!)

it's a hard choice. but it's the player's own choice, not the result of a die roll. that can make for some great roleplaying.

the player has to think, "wow, i really can't afford to suffer that penalty in the middle of this combat! it could spell disaster for us... maybe i should just give in to the Dark Side a little... but what are the repercussions of that?"

my players know what they are. i told them at the beginning of the campaign, in no unequivocal terms, that a character who falls to the Dark Side becomes an NPC. so it's a really hard choice to make.

Matter of opinion I guess. I don't like it because it makes Fear so enormously powerful. Either accept a Dark Side Point or cop a penalty that will (even from a mid-level darksider) cripple you in the current combat. DSPs are so hard to get rid of too - you may well have to choose between a -6 penalty to everything (and dying right now) or being hamstrung by a bunch of DSPs for the next half-dozen levels. Besides, it doesn't work conceptually for me. There's a binary choice to be made between abandoning yourself to your fear (accepting the penalty) and using it (and thus the Dark Side). Neither option very heroic, or Jedi-like. What about Jedi serenity - having the Force flow through you so strongly that you are beyond fear?

Eh, but I'm getting off-topic here. Point is, there are bits and pieces in the rules that were not thought out as well as they might have been, and you will probably have to do some house-ruling. Stun damage is another thing I forgot to mention in the above post. I don't know of anyone who uses it as written - the Fort save vs unconsciousness thing is too powerful, and just promotes PCs stunning the bad guys then slitting their throats while asleep. Dunno how this stuff slipped past the playtesters, seriously...